Who should have access to your systems, and how often should that access be checked? A strong user access review process helps organizations find risky permissions, remove outdated accounts, and protect sensitive data before a mistake or insider threat leads to a breach.
Key Takeaways
- The user access review process is a structured way to confirm that each person has the right level of access for their current role.
- A solid user access review procedure usually starts with system mapping and tracking user accounts and permissions. It should also include role-based access rules, formal review steps, and clear documentation.
- Regular reviews help organizations catch common security problems, such as dormant accounts, privilege creep, unnecessary admin access, and access conflicts.
In August 2023, Tesla experienced a sudden data breach that exposed the personal information of more than 75,000 employees and customers, including bank account details and Social Security numbers. But this exfiltration wasn’t caused by hackers or ransomware; the culprits were two former Tesla workers who accessed and downloaded some 100 GB of sensitive data.
This massive data security failure could have been prevented with a robust user access review process. As organizations face an increasing number of cyber threats from within, following UAR best practices becomes more urgent than ever.
The Purpose of the User Access Review Process
User access reviews involve managing the permissions, privileges, access controls, and credentials of every user or user category in your system. User access management requires tracking assigned permissions, assessing whether current access levels are appropriate, and adding or removing permissions as needed.
Several pillars govern user access controls in today’s cybersecurity environment:
- Identity verification: Assigning unique credentials to each user and only allowing verified users to access the system
- Authentication security: Following best practices for user passwords, such as requiring multifactor authentication and blocking weak or breached passwords
- Principle of least privilege: Limiting access permissions to the minimum necessary for the user’s role
- Zero Trust: Not trusting any users by default, including employees and software tools, and not allowing automatic logins on the system
In a nutshell, UAR means right-sizing system privileges: limiting access to sensitive data, tools, assets, and network resources while also ensuring employees have the permissions necessary to do their jobs effectively and efficiently.
User Access Review Checklist
Every organization and system has unique data security needs, so your UAR process may be different than the norm. You can use the following steps as a foundation, adding controls as necessary for regulatory compliance or industry-specific risks.
1. Scope, System Mapping, and Planning
Define the extent of your organization’s user access review responsibilities. Map your system, identifying all data assets and network resources. This helps you detect potential vulnerabilities or flaws that need protecting, such as privilege escalation exploits.
Determine which data requires extra information security. Especially sensitive systems require more frequent user access reviews. The same goes for roles that potentially pose a high risk to company data, such as administrators, executives, and auditors.
2. Access Control Inventory
This next step is usually the most time-consuming and resource-intensive, but also the one with the greatest impact on program outcomes. Creating a user access inventory means making a comprehensive list of all:
- Usernames and accounts
- Roles and responsibilities
- Access groups
- Permissions
- Login history
- Start and end dates (e.g., auditor permissions or current worker employment status)
This database should evolve, remaining up to date as employees leave the company or your system changes. The goal is to make it easy to quickly see who has access to what and how they’ve used the permissions.
3. Program Management
Decide who will be responsible for user access review procedures. For enterprises, this is usually the CISO or your compliance team. Under HIPAA, the Security Officer should oversee UAR processes.
Program leaders may assign some responsibilities. IT teams have more experience detecting access control flaws in technical systems, and compliance officers understand the impact of privacy regulations.
4. Role-Based Access Controls
Before carrying out reviews, you need a framework that defines your organization’s approach to access control. Establish role-based profiles that meet the network access needs of different job positions.
Financial department workers require access to files that IT technicians don’t. Similarly, permissions to install applications, delete files, or change settings should be reserved for high-level roles in relevant departments.
Establish rules for common business scenarios. These include employee onboarding, promotions, offboarding, and terminations.
5. Standardized UAR Procedures
The UAR process should follow formal policies. Senior management should approve review procedures, audit frequency, risk assessment guidelines, corrective actions, and documentation standards.
6. UAR Assessment
When performing the user access review, the program manager needs to review access rights in key areas:
- Data permissions: Who has access to high-risk data categories? Is the access absolutely necessary to perform responsibilities?
- Privileges: Are the permissions granted to each role appropriate? Does the individual still need the same level of access?
- Departments: Do any accounts have privileges that overlap between departments? Is there a valid justification?
- Discrepancies: Do any users have access privileges that are out of place? Are there any oversight conflicts, such as the ability to approve self-initiated changes?
- Dormant accounts: Are there any users that should no longer exist, such as ex-employees or auditor accounts?
- Logs: What access permissions have changed? Do any raise red flags?
Be especially thorough in evaluating admin-level permissions. Accounts with read/write access should have higher-than-normal security protections.
7. Access Modifications
Based on the assessment, make changes to comply with your policies, cybersecurity best practices, and regulatory requirements. It’s better to err on the side of caution, limiting access instead of granting too much. You can always add back permissions if the situation requires it.
8. Documentation
Keep a record of all review outcomes and conclusions. Document the changes made, any warning signs to keep an eye on, and special areas of focus for future reviews.
9. Automation
Automation shouldn’t take the place of human-led access reviews, but digital tools can improve your results. For example, cybersecurity software can instantly flag dangerous attempts to modify permissions.
You can also use automation to send notifications for scheduled reviews or set event triggers, such as employee termination. Alerts can help IT teams remember to remove credentials for ex-employees ASAP, reducing the risks of “revenge quitting” and other insider threats.
Why User Access Review Procedures Matter
Comprehensive user access reviews protect your network. UAR can help you detect shadow accounts and privilege creep, where employees have outsized team permissions because of shifting roles. Limiting user privileges is one of the best ways to reduce the impact of stolen credentials and phishing attacks.
Ironically, data determines how effective your UAR process is. Data centralization and automation tools like Compyl make it easier to map permissions and manage access controls for tens of thousands of employees.
Make sense of your organization’s data by surfacing the right insights for accurate and efficient UAR decisions. Discover Compyl’s state-of-the-art user access review solutions.
